Brunei joins World Expo 2012 in S Korea

An artist impression of the aquarium to be built inside the Brunei Pavilion at the World Expo 2012 be held in Yeosu, South Korea. Picture: BT/Koo Jin Shen

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

THE delicate connection between forests and reefs will be the main theme of Brunei Exhibition Pavilion at the World Expo 2012 to be held in Yeosu, South Korea next month.

The World Expo, hailed as one of the three truly global events next to the World Cup and the Olympics, will be held from May 2012 until August 2012.

Hosted in the coastal city of Yeosu, the expo hopes to promote awareness of the importance of the ocean and its connection to the coasts through its theme, "The Living Ocean and Coasts, Diversity of Resources and Sustainable Activities".

Brunei will join over a hundred countries to showcase culture and their country's commitments to the oceans in May.

When visited by The Brunei Times, the Brunei Exhibition Pavilion is still under construction, along with many other countries which are assembling displays at the International Pavilion.

The Bruneian Pavilion is approximately two weeks away before its completion, said its designer, Park Gunhee in an interview.

Park elaborated on the design. On one wall, will be the forest, and explained that they are working with the Brunei government to bring in real forest trees and plants from Brunei to be planted and set on display.

He also highlighted that there will be a live aquarium, which will display live specimens of fish found in Brunei which will be set at the centre of the exhibition. On the opposite wall, there will be a display of models of Mangrove forests.

A source close to the project, who wish to remain unnamed, disclosed that Brunei's theme will be "Forests and Reefs".

He explained that the Brunei exhibition hopes to bring out much on delicate ecobalance on land and on water. "We are also not hiding the fact that we are an oil producing nation, so we will show an oilrig among our display, and show how we try to avoid environmental damage as well as repair existing ones," he said.

Brunei will also be represented culturally. According to the source, Brunei cultural troupes will be joining some 8,000 performances under 400 different programmes that will be held throughout the duration of the Expo. Brunei will also be taking part in a 'National Day', a showcase of culture from a specific country.

The source agreed that they are planning to sell Brunei, as Brunei. "We will not compromise our culture," he said.

The Yeosu World Expo is expecting about 10 million visitors, a significant number to the small city of some 300,000 people, whom are expected to reap economic benefits after the vast improvements to infrastructure and facilities as a platform for Marine tourism in Korea.